Virtual surgery system with haptic sensation for both hands

Abstract

The authors have developed a virtual surgery system which is able to handle organs as elastic models and obtain a haptic sensation with force feedback in real time. They tried to design a system that would allows them to physically manipulate, or incise these soft tissue models in virtual space. When the elastic organs are significantly incised both the organ's surface and inner structures become deformed or distorted. These changes occur at a speed identical to real time. The features of the device developed for the authors' virtual surgery system are summarized as follows. At first, the force feedback system is divided in two types of manipulators, a force control manipulator and a motion control manipulator. The authors tried to design three force control manipulators for fingers. These are attached to the end of the motion control manipulator. Second, both ends of each force control manipulator are attached to the thumb, forefinger and middle finger of the operator. The user is able to handle an elastic organ using two manipulators on the right and left hands. In the authors' virtual surgery system, it is possible to perform surgical maneuvers at a speed approaching that of the actual procedure, while experiencing a sense of touch. Here, the authors have applied this system to surgery in the abdominal region. This surgical experience, in which a patient's morphological characteristics are reproduced in a virtual environment, will allow the establishment of a new method of clinically applicable surgery as well as an educational innovation.